10 Fun Ideas for Celebrating the Last Week of Kindergarten

As the end of the school year draws near, it’s a great time for you and your students to reflect, bond, and celebrate. The last week of kindergarten is a perfect time to look back on all that your students have learned and accomplished over the past year. Your students will head home for summer with great memories and excitement from all the fun you’ve had in the last week of class.

#1: Celebrate the Last Week of Kindergarten with an ABC Countdown

An ABC countdown is a way to celebrate the end of the year. You will need to start this countdown 26 before the last day of school, but you can continue with your ABC countdown through the last week of kindergarten.

To create an ABC countdown, assign a special theme or activity for your students to participate in in the 26 days leading up to the last day of school. Each day will follow a letter of the alphabet. For example, Animal Day, Beach Day, and so on.

You can make the themes and ideas for each day as simple or elaborate as you’d like. Read more about the ABC countdown and find example themes and activities in my End of the Year ABC Countdown blog post.

Start with A and go to Z or vice versa. However you choose to count down, your students will have a blast!

#2: Make an End of the Year Memory Book

During the last week of kindergarten, have your students reflect on all of the memories from the year and the growth they’ve made. An end of the year memory book is a great way to look back at the year, and allow your students to have a creative outlet with their writing during the last week of class.

The memory book is a great activity to do during your writing time during the last week of kindergarten or even during morning work. There are lots of prompts to choose from, including sharing favorite moments from the year and sharing personal interests.

When all of their pages are complete, you can add a front cover and staple or bind the pages. End of the year memory books are cherished by students and make great mementos for parents and families.

#3: Take Your Class Outdoors

Another exciting activity for the last week of kindergarten is to take your class outdoors. This can mean visiting a local park, going on a field trip, or simply going to a field or playground at your school.

You can even team up with other kindergarten teachers and have a grade level outdoors day! You can ask for parent volunteers to attend the outdoors day and help supervise and play with the students.

While outdoors, you have tons of options for how you spend your time. Build paper airplanes. Host relay races. Solve math problems in chalk on the cement. Do messy science experiments, like coke and mentos. Create a class mural.

It can also be fun to take your normal “inside work” and take it outside. Bring clipboards and writing utensils, and give students time to write, read, or answer math questions while in a new environment.

After an entire year together, students have shared many memories and moments with each other. This last week of kindergarten activity will tug at your heart-strings and make every student feel appreciated.

Get a beach ball and write students' names all over the ball. Then, stand in a circle and have students pass the ball around. When they catch the ball, they will share their favorite memory or share something kind about the name closest to their right thumb.

I recommend keeping track of which students have been chosen, so that every student can hear a special memory or comment about them!

#5: Make Ice Cream Sundae Recipes

Have more fun during the last week of kindergarten by having students apply informational writing and sequencing skills to make ice cream sundae recipe cards.

To begin, students will draw a picture of their ice cream sundae creation on a piece of card stock or construction paper. Leave a space at the bottom of the paper large enough to glue on a large notecard.

Students will add details and color their sundae. After their sundae illustration is complete, they’ll create the recipe card on a large notecard. Model how to start with the name of the recipe, list the ingredients, and the steps for making it. You can do a sample on the whiteboard to help guide them.

After the recipe is complete, glue the recipe card to the bottom of the paper, underneath the illustration. This is a great writing and art cross-curricular activity for the last week of school.

To celebrate even further, you can have an ice cream sundae party together afterwards. You can bring in various toppings and see if your students can follow their own recipe when making their sundae!

#6: Deliver Cards to Faculty and Staff

Encourage your students to show their appreciation of teachers, administrators, and school staff! Have students make cards for different people around the school, wishing them a happy summer and thanking them for all they do.

Simply fold colored construction paper and allow your students to write a special message and decorate the card. As a class, you can go on a school tour and deliver the cards to the various faculty and staff members. This is sure to brighten everyone’s day!

#7: Write Letters to Future Students

Now that your students have officially made it through the school year, they may have some advice for future students entering kindergarten. Your students can write letters to next year’s students, telling them what they’ll love and can expect from the school year. They can give them advice and write an encouraging message.

Your students will feel so much pride knowing that they’ve accomplished so much as they tell the future students about what they’ll learn and do.

You can pass out these letters during the first week of school or even mail it to future students over the summer to welcome them!

#8: Have an End of the Year Awards Ceremony

Another activity for the last week of kindergarten is to celebrate your students’ accomplishments and growth with an end of the year awards ceremony. Hand out special, personalized awards to your students to acknowledge their unique personalities and the growth they’ve made over the year.

To make it super special, you can play celebration music and invite the school principal to help out with the awards. Do a special cheer as a class for each student as they receive their award.

#9: Make Packing Up Fun

While the last week of class is full of fun, there’s also a lot of packing up and organizing that needs to be done. This doesn’t have to be stressful though. Involve your students and make packing fun by playing music and having a cleaning and organization party.

Before you begin, give students instructions on items that need to be put in their book bags, tossed in the trash, or stored in the classroom. You can have different stations around the room for them to help you organize supplies.

Not only will your students feel helpful, but this will cut down on your workload, too.

#10: Have a Movie and Popcorn Party

After your desks are cleared and the room is organized, you may have some extra time on your hands where you don’t want to get out supplies. What better time for a movie and popcorn party?

Play a school-approved movie and pop popcorn for your students to enjoy before that final bell rings for the summer.

I hope you enjoyed these ideas for the last week of kindergarten and will incorporate them into your final days of school. I’d love to hear which ideas you try in the comments below.